Kidnapped and Sold to My 18 Villain Dads

After 18 infamous gang leaders of Wicked Valley stumble upon me, they adopt me and work hard in raising me. Since my dads refuse to let me get in contact with all males while showing their violent sides to everyone else all day, I run away from home out of anger. I've left home for three years so far. Throughout the years, I've gotten into a passionate relationship. But on the night my boyfriend, Vincent Gray, proposes to me, he has the nerve to lace my red wine with drugs. Then, he ties me up and delivers me back to Wicked Valley. "The 18 bosses of Wicked Valley have posted a lucrative bounty on a young woman with a phoenix tattoo on her arm. It so happens that you have it. "My younger sister, Wendy Gray, has offended someone out there. Only by giving you to those bosses can Wendy's life be spared!" Then, Vincent adds sorrowfully, "Don't worry, Noelle. I'll definitely include you in my family tree once you're dead. I'll make sure that you won't die without a family." As I stare at Vincent's phony expression, deep down, I'm elated. It's been three years. Finally, someone is taking me home. While faced with Vincent's shocked look, I smile while snapping my fingers at the group of people, who are about to pick me up. "What are you waiting for, everyone? Prepare some seasonings! We're eating good tonight! Let's have lamb soup!" Chapter 1 As soon as the words were out of my mouth, Vincent Gray clamped a hand around my throat and smashed me hard against the car door. He roared, "Noelle, are you out of your mind?" My back hit the metal with a sickening thud, and it felt like all my organs had shifted out of place. Before I could say a word, he turned and gave a fawning smile to the low-level thugs hanging around the perimeter. He said, "Gentlemen, don't mind her. She's hysterical and talking nonsense. I'll take her in right now." With that, he shoved me back into the cramped trunk. The drug he'd slipped me was still in full effect—my arms and legs felt like they were filled with lead. From the front seat, his sister Wendy Gray's syrupy, venom-laced voice floated back. "Vincent, will those psychos from Wicked Valley really let me go once you hand Noelle over?" Vincent slammed his foot on the gas and reassured her in a soft tone. "Relax. The 18 kings of Wicked Valley have put out the highest bounty for a woman with a phoenix tattoo. Noelle just so happens to have a fake one. As long as we give her to them, it'll quell Mr. Shaw's rage, and your life will be spared." Fake? I looked at the vivid blood-red phoenix on my right arm and couldn't help but laugh. It had been personally inked on me by the boss of Wicked Valley, Terence Shaw, who was also Big Dad to me. Seeing the tattoo was equivalent to seeing Big Dad himself, yet Vincent, the idiot that he was, actually thought it was a knockoff. My 18 dads probably never dreamed that Vincent and Wendy would personally deliver me right to their doorstep after searching for me for three years and turning up nothing. Vincent heard my laughter and assumed I was scared out of my mind. He sighed, then said, "Noelle, I've fed you and sheltered you for three years. I've never done you wrong or given you any grief. "Now that Wendy's in trouble, it's time for you to repay me. You're trading your cheap life for the peace of the Gray family—you should be honored!" I actually laughed again, this time from sheer anger. Three years ago, Vincent's company had gone bankrupt, and his enemies had come for his life. I'd taken three stabs for him and carried him on my back for six miles in a torrential downpour. He'd kneeled outside the emergency room and sworn that he'd cherish me with his life. He'd vowed that he'd never let me suffer even the slightest grievance. But now, just because Wendy had caused trouble, he hadn't hesitated to spike my drink with a heavy dose of sedatives. He'd packed me up like a pig headed for slaughter and delivered me as a sacrificial substitute. The SUV jerked to a sudden stop. The door was yanked open, and the harsh glare of a searchlight made me squint. Wendy looked down at me imperiously. She yanked me out of the trunk, making me fall to the ground. Then, she brought the heel of her sharp stiletto down hard on my shin bone and ground it. Pain shot through me like a white-hot blade, but I clenched my jaw and refused to make a sound. "Don't blame me for this, Noelle. Blame yourself for being lowborn." Her eyes were full of vicious glee. "Once those lunatics are done torturing you to death, I'll make sure Vincent gives you a proper burial." I looked at the feigned innocence on her face and found I didn't want to waste time getting angry at her. She and Vincent wanted to trade me in for Wicked Valley's protection, huh? Five years ago, some suicidal drug lord had the nerve to yank out a single strand of my hair. Big Dad had singlehandedly wiped out the guy's entire base. Second Dad had broken every bone in his body and fed them to the dogs. Sixth Dad had strung up his entire extended family at the entrance of the valley and left them there to dry in the wind. My 18 lawless dads would whip out their guns and start a war if I so much as got a scrape. Once they realized who had been abducted and brought to them, the Gray family would be ground to dust. Vincent walked over and pushed Wendy out of the way. There wasn't a shred of guilt in his eyes, only feverish urgency. He pulled out a knife and roughly tore open the fabric on my right shoulder. Cold wind poured down the back of my neck, and the lifelike phoenix tattoo on my arm was fully exposed in the night. He reached out to touch my face, his tone magnanimous as he said, "Go in peace, Noelle. I'll make sure you're buried with the rest of my family." I turned my head away in disgust, dodging his hand, and locked my eyes on his. Under the searchlight, I saw a half-inch scar on his left brow bone. Three years ago, he'd earned that scar after taking a blow for me while protecting me from his enemies. Just for that scar, I'd packed away all my sharp edges, cooked and cleaned for him, and played the soft, obedient partner for three whole years. I stared at that scar. When I spoke, my voice was as cold as ice. "Vincent, I'll give you one last chance. Are you really going to hand me over to these people? You won't regret this?" He faltered. Then, his eyes filled with pure disgust and cruelty. He yanked a fistful of my hair and pulled my face up to his. "Cut the act, Noelle. Dying for Wendy is the greatest value you'll ever produce in this life. When I decide something, I never regret it." The moment the words left his mouth, the ground began to shake violently. A deafening roar of engines ripped through the night. A dozen heavy armored off-road vehicles surged in and surrounded us in an instant. Wendy let out a shriek and collapsed to the ground. Vincent, on the other hand, trembled with excitement. He grabbed me and slammed me face-first onto the coarse dirt road, then shouted hoarsely into the darkness, "Mr. Shaw, I brought the woman!" Chapter 2 The car doors swung open in unison. A dozen burly men with full-sleeve tattoos and a murderous vibe jumped down. "Got her?" The man in the lead, a guy with a scar across his face, had a cigarette dangling from his lips as he strode over. Vincent hunched over, bowing and scraping like a complete suck-up. "Yeah, yeah, she's here! Mr. Scar, this is the woman Mr. Shaw wants. Look, the phoenix tattoo!" He yanked me up and ripped my sleeve without a shred of gentleness, shoving my arm into the harsh beam of the searchlight so the blood-red phoenix could be seen clearly. Scarface lazily blew out a smoke ring, his gaze roaming over me from head to toe, shameless and unhurried. He drawled, "Pretty enough. But is she tough enough?" I lifted my head and met his eyes head-on, then let out a cold, derisive laugh. "How dare you look at me like that, you piece of trash? Aren't you afraid I'll rip your eyeballs out?" The moment the word left my mouth, the air around us turned to ice. A dozen guns were drawn in an instant, the sound of safeties clicking off overlapping like a wave. Vincent practically jumped out of his skin. He spun around and kicked the back of my knee hard. A sharp bolt of pain shot through me. I collapsed, both knees slamming into the carpet of shattered glass on the ground. The jagged pieces cut straight through my pants and into my flesh. Warm blood quickly soaked through my pant legs. Vincent shoved my head down with both hands, grinding my face into the ground, his tone twisted and vicious. "You wretch! You might have a death wish, but don't drag us down with you! Apologize to Mr. Scar now, or I'll kill you right here myself!" Scarface stepped in and kicked Vincent aside like he was nothing. Then, he came over and grabbed my chin, tilting my face left and right to get a good look. "Well now, that phoenix tattoo actually looks like the real deal." He let out a low, cruel laugh, his eyes filled with a sort of sadistic mercy. "You idiots got lucky. Mr. Shaw has already skinned three of our division leaders over the past two days because they couldn't find the little princess. If serving this woman up to him calms him down, then you Grays get to keep your pathetic lives." I stared at him coolly. At best, this idiot was some newly recruited guard dog who only got to hang around the perimeter. He didn't even know what my phoenix tattoo stood for. If he knew that my 18 dads—the ones he said were skinning people alive—were now tearing the city apart looking for me… Then if so much as a hair on my head was harmed, he could have ten lives, and they wouldn't be enough to pay for this. When Vincent saw me kneeling there silently, my expression still icy, he swung his hand back for another vicious slap across my face. "What, cat got your tongue? Mr. Scar just complimented you! Thank him now!" I licked the blood at the corner of my mouth and let out a low laugh. Wendy was so terrified that she shrank back behind Vincent, staring at me like I'd gone insane. "What are you laughing at? Are you crazy?" she cried. I stared straight at them, my gaze so bright that it was almost blinding. "I'm laughing because you're about to get exactly what you wanted." I was laughing at them because they'd just sent a living nightmare back to where she belonged. I was laughing at them because they had no idea that once I stepped past these gates, the only thing waiting for them on the other side was hell. Scarface waved a hand impatiently. "Take her inside. Mr. Shaw happens to be around tonight." Wendy's eyes lit up. She thought the danger had passed, and greed made her inch closer, trying to cozy up. "Mr. Scar, what does Mr. Shaw want with someone who has a phoenix tattoo, anyway? Is it because some tramp with that tattoo picked a fight with the valley's little princess?" The sound of a slap rang out crisply. Scarface's hand snapped across Wendy's face and sent her flying to the ground. She let out a shrill scream as half her face swelled up instantly, her lip split and bleeding. He yanked out his gun, pressing the dark muzzle hard against her forehead. His eyes turned vicious as he snarled, "You think Wicked Valley's princess is someone trash like you gets to gossip about? She's the precious lifeblood our 18 bosses treat like a treasure! Run your mouth once more, and I'll blow your brains out right here and now!" Vincent was so frightened that all color drained from his face. He scrambled forward and threw himself over Wendy, shielding her as he bowed and groveled before Scarface. "Mr. Scar, calm down! Please! She doesn't know the rules!" He didn't dare get mad at Scarface, so he turned and vented on me instead, his terror morphing into rage. He marched over, grabbed a fistful of my hair, and started dragging me toward the main hall doors. A ripping, burning pain tore across my scalp. Shards of glass embedded in my knees scraped along the ground with each pull, leaving a long, shocking trail of blood behind me. The heavy black iron doors of the main hall slowly swung open. A crushing sense of pressure crashed over me. I looked at the tiger-hide throne inside that was a symbol of absolute power. A silent, icy smile curved my lips. Dads, I was home. Chapter 3 Inside the hall, a pure white fox-fur coat I'd left behind was draped carelessly over the solid-gold tiger-hide throne. Big Dad had personally gone to some frozen wasteland to hunt down a snow fox just to have that coat made for me. At the foot of the throne lay a one-of-a-kind emerald chessboard, something Third Dad had tracked down just to keep me entertained. There were even a few diamonds scattered across the rosewood side table, each the size of a pigeon egg. They were toys Fourth Dad had tossed me to play marbles with. Wendy's eyes practically turned green with greed as she stared at the walls packed with top-grade weapons and crates of gold bars. "Vincent, if Noelle really pissed off Wicked Valley's princess, we can offer her up to Mr. Shaw as a sacrifice. Once we calm his wrath, our family will be set for life!" Her voice shook with excitement. Vincent's eyes burned with fanatic greed as he clamped both hands down on my shoulders. "Being able to trade her life for our family's riches and glory—it's her honor!" I looked on coldly as the siblings reveled in their victory, my gaze so calm that it was as if I were already looking at corpses. "Have you ever considered that the person you dragged in here isn't a scapegoat, but the Grim Reaper herself?" Scarface whipped his head around and locked his eyes on me. In that instant, for reasons he couldn't explain, a chill crawled up his spine. My haughty, fearless arrogance looked far too much like the expression my 18 dads wore right before their wrath descended. "Mr. Scar, this portrait…" Vincent stared fixedly at the huge portrait hanging behind the armchair. On the right arm of the young woman in the painting was a blood-red phoenix tattoo identical to mine. His voice shook when he finally realized something was off. Scarface's gaze flicked back and forth between the portrait and me, suspicion written all over his face. Could I really be… "What's all this noise about? Disturb the bosses inside, and you'll all suffer fates worse than death." A spoiled, arrogant female voice abruptly cut through Scarface's doubts. A woman in a custom red designer dress stepped out in high heels, carrying herself like she owned the place. She was Josie Brown, the illegitimate daughter of Tom Brown, the head of Division 3. She spent all day dreaming of replacing me as the Valley's princess. Her eyes swept over Vincent and Wendy in disgust before finally landing on me. Scarface immediately sheathed his blade and bent over with a flattering smile. "Ms. Brown, this is the offering brought in to calm Mr. Shaw's wrath." Josie walked closer. The second she saw my face, a twisted, violent jealousy exploded in her eyes. She stared at my features, which were a hundred times more striking than hers, and clenched her jaw. "What cheap little street rat thinks she deserves a tattoo like that?" she hissed. She didn't recognize me. I wasn't surprised. My 18 dads were so overprotective of me, after all. The illegitimate daughter of an unimportant division leader hardly qualified to see me. "What are you staring at? Keep looking, and I'll gouge your eyes out!" Josie raised her hand, ready to slap me. I abruptly tore free of Vincent's grip and, in one sharp motion, slapped her across the face first. The force sent her stumbling back, blood instantly welling at the corner of her lips. I looked down at her, my gaze contemptuous and sharp. "You think you're worthy of touching my face?" "How dare you hit me?" Josie shrieked, cupping her cheek. "Terence Shaw is my godfather! I'll have you chopped into pieces and fed to the dogs!" I sneered. "Terence has to grovel at my feet when he sees me." The words were barely out of my mouth when Vincent kicked me hard in the back of the knee, desperate to curry favor with Josie. The crack of bone echoed clearly. A muffled grunt escaped my throat as I crashed hard to the floor, cold sweat soaking through my clothes in an instant. Vincent ground his heel into my face and groveled to Josie. "Ms. Brown, please don't get mad! This wretch is nothing but a lunatic. Do whatever you want with her!" Josie smiled cruelly. She pulled out a knife, pressing the tip of the blade to my cheek and slowly dragging it toward the phoenix tattoo on my right arm. "I'll destroy this pretty little face and that disgusting tattoo for my dear godfather." The blade pierced my skin, and blood spilled out. I swallowed the taste of iron rising in my throat and locked my eyes on the doors to the inner hall. Then, I gathered every ounce of strength I had to roar, "Terence Shaw! Your daughter's about to be carved up alive out here! Are you still going to play dead in there?" The entire hall went dead silent. Chapter 4 Josie froze for a beat. Then, she burst into sharp, hysterical laughter. "You're about to die, and you still dare act like you're the Valley's princess? Vincent, hold her down! I'll slice that fake tattoo off with the skin and feed it to the dogs!" Vincent went white with terror. He kicked my already bleeding knee, worsening the injury. "Ms. Brown, don't be mad. This crazy wretch is out of her mind!" he babbled. "She heard Mr. Scar mention that Mr. Shaw was searching for someone, and she started deluding herself into thinking she's the Valley's princess." Josie slapped my face with the flat of her blade, every strike dripping with humiliation. "Who the hell do you think you are, daring to call yourself Mr. Shaw's daughter? I'm his goddaughter!" Vincent let out a snort. To show his loyalty, he ground his heel down viciously on my broken bone. Blinding pain ripped through me. I clenched my jaw hard and swallowed the metallic tang flooding my mouth. Three years ago, I'd taken three stabs for him. On that stormy night, I'd carried him on my back for six miles to find a doctor. I'd poured my heart into him for three years. In return, he'd sold me out to climb the social ladder. He'd drugged me and sent me to my death. Josie's blade stabbed straight into my right arm without a shred of mercy. The lifelike blood-red phoenix there was brutally carved open, skin and flesh peeled back as blood gushed to the floor. Wendy clapped her hands in excitement and screeched, "Serves you right! This is what you get for pretending to be someone you're not! Ms. Brown, cut up her face, too!" I was drenched in cold sweat, and my vision blurred at the edges. Still, looking at their crazed, twisted faces, a strange, chilling smile curved my lips. They could laugh and scream as much as they wanted now. The harder they gloated, the more miserable they would be when my 18 dads, who were living devils, came out of the inner hall. "I can't believe you still have the nerve to smile!" Josie was infuriated by the look in my eyes, and jealousy distorted her face into something inhuman. "Strip her! I want to see how long this cheap wretch can keep acting tough!" "Got it, Ms. Brown!" Desperate to please her, Vincent lunged forward and tore at my collar. "Don't blame me for being ruthless, Noelle. Blame yourself for crossing the wrong people!" My shirt ripped. Cold air knifed down my neck. The sheer humiliation, mixed with the pain ripping through my body, drove my emotions into a pit of frozen darkness. Josie's stiletto heel slammed down on the side of my face. The sharp heel ground into my cheekbone so hard it felt like my skull would crack. "You think you're worthy of being associated with Wicked Valley, you cheap whore?" she snarled. She raised the bloodstained knife, the tip pointed straight at my right eye. "I'll ruin these slutty eyes first. I'll gouge them out and soak them in liquor for my godfathers!" The threat of doom loomed close. Vincent's arm locked tightly around my throat. The blade flashed with a blinding, icy glint as it drove down toward me. Boom! The two black iron doors of the inner hall, heavy as mountains, were kicked open by a terrifying force. A man in a black cloak strode out, looking like a god of slaughter who had descended to earth. Behind him, 17 figures surged out in unison, each radiating murderous intent. All 18 bosses of Wicked Valley had appeared. The crushing pressure of born predators rolled out, making everyone's knees go weak. Most people were on the verge of collapsing. Josie's hand trembled, and the knife stopped half an inch from my eye. She instantly withdrew her blade, plastering on a sycophantic, sugary smile as she looked at my dads. She sounded like she wanted to claim credit as she cried, "Terence, we caught a wretch impersonating the princess. She even dared to call you by your name!" Vincent shook with excitement and pressed my head against the bloody floor. "Mr. Shaw, I brought her here! I'm the one offering this cheap whore who dared to anger you!" Big Dad lowered his eyes with bored indifference. The next second, his gaze fell on my blood-soaked, half-naked figure sprawled on the floor. The moment he saw my face, his footsteps came to an abrupt halt. The murderous air around him froze solid, and his eyes turned bloodshot with fury. The hall went dead silent. One could hear a pin drop. I struggled to lift my head, which was caked in blood, and forced out a cold, mocking smile full of contempt. "Terence Shaw. After three years apart, this is how you welcome me?"